US-trained Syrian rebels gave equipment to Nusra: US military

Syrian rebels trained by the United States gave some of their equipment to the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in exchange for safe passage, a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday, the latest blow to a troubled U.S. effort to train local partners to fight Islamic State militants.

The rebels surrendered six pick-up trucks and some ammunition, or about one-quarter of their issued equipment, to a suspected Nusra intermediary on Sept. 21-22 in exchange for safe passage, said Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, in a statement.

"If accurate, the report of NSF members providing equipment to al Nusra Front is very concerning and a violation of Syria train and equip program guidelines," Ryder said, using an acronym for the rebels, called the New Syrian Forces.

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US-trained Syrian rebels gave equipment to Nusra: US military

A rebel fighter stands on a tank near the frontline in the village of Ratyan in the countryside north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on February 19, 2015. Fierce clashes are raging between rebel forces and government troops in the villages of Ratyan and Hardtaneen as regime forces cut the main rebel supply line into Aleppo. The Syrian regime is ready to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo to allow a humanitarian ceasefire, a UN envoy said, even as government troops sought to encircle embattled rebels. AFP PHOTO / ZEIN AL RIFAI (Photo credit should read ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. will provide some moderate Syrian rebels with trucks equipped with machine guns and radios to call in U.S. airstrikes. WSJ's Julian Barnes reports.

Rebel fighters drive tanks near the frontline in the village of Ratyan in the countryside north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on February 19, 2015. Fierce clashes are raging between rebel forces and government troops in the villages of Ratyan and Hardtaneen as regime forces cut the main rebel supply line into Aleppo. The Syrian regime is ready to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo to allow a humanitarian ceasefire, a UN envoy said, even as government troops sought to encircle embattled rebels. AFP PHOTO / ZEIN AL RIFAI (Photo credit should read ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images)

Rebel fighters drive a tank near the frontline in the village of Ratyan in the countryside north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on February 19, 2015. Fierce clashes are raging between rebel forces and government troops in the villages of Ratyan and Hardtaneen as regime forces cut the main rebel supply line into Aleppo. The Syrian regime is ready to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo to allow a humanitarian ceasefire, a UN envoy said, even as government troops sought to encircle embattled rebels. AFP PHOTO / ZEIN AL RIFAI (Photo credit should read ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images)

A rebel fighter stands looking at a tank on a truck near the frontline in the village of Ratyan in the countryside north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on February 19, 2015. Fierce clashes are raging between rebel forces and government troops in the villages of Ratyan and Hardtaneen as regime forces cut the main rebel supply line into Aleppo. The Syrian regime is ready to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo to allow a humanitarian ceasefire, a UN envoy said, even as government troops sought to encircle embattled rebels. AFP PHOTO / ZEIN AL RIFAI (Photo credit should read ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo, Syria on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo, Syria on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo, Syria on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo, Syria on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Syrians gathered to search for survivors amidst the debris of destroyed buildings following an airstrike with barrel bomb by Syrian Government's helicopters in the Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria on November 06, 2014. At least 16 casualties, including women and children, reported. (Photo by Mustafa Hafiz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A US-led coalition Rockwell B-1 Lancer flies above the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as it seens from the southeastern border village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on November 5, 2014. Islamic State jihadists subjected a group of teenagers from the Syrian battleground town of Kobane to a string of abuses, including torture, during six months in captivity, Human Rights Watch said on November4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Smoke rises from a burning building in the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as it seen from the southeastern border village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on November 5, 2014. Islamic State jihadists subjected a group of teenagers from the Syrian battleground town of Kobane to a string of abuses, including torture, during six months in captivity, Human Rights Watch said on November4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris and wrecked vehicles are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Smoke rises after an airstrike in the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as it seens from the southeastern border village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on November 5, 2014. Islamic State jihadists subjected a group of teenagers from the Syrian battleground town of Kobane to a string of abuses, including torture, during six months in captivity, Human Rights Watch said on November4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

ALEPPO, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 06: Debris are seen following a US-led coalition airstrike hits Headquarters of al Nusra Front in Aleppo on November 06, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Hasan Ubeyd/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Smoke rises after an airstrike in the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as it seens from the southeastern border village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on November 5, 2014. Islamic State jihadists subjected a group of teenagers from the Syrian battleground town of Kobane to a string of abuses, including torture, during six months in captivity, Human Rights Watch said on November4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Smoke rises after an airstrike in the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as it seens from the southeastern border village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on November 5, 2014. Islamic State jihadists subjected a group of teenagers from the Syrian battleground town of Kobane to a string of abuses, including torture, during six months in captivity, Human Rights Watch said on November4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

SANLIURFA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 03: A photo taken in Suruc district of Sanliurfa, Turkey shows smoke rises from an explosion in the Syrian border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) following a US-led coalition airstrike hits an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets on November 3, 2014. (Photo by Ali Ihsan Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANLIURFA, TURKEY - OCTOBER 30 : A photograph taken from Suruc district of Sanliurfa, Turkey, near Turkish-Syrian border crossing shows smoke rising from the Syrian border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) following the US-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets on October 30, 2014. (Photo by Rauf Maltas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, was told of the equipment surrender around 1 p.m. on Friday, Ryder said. Earlier on Friday, Ryder had said all weapons and equipment issued to the rebels remained under their control.

The news was the most recent sign of trouble in a fledgling military effort to train fighters to take on the Islamic State militant group in Syria, where a 4-1/2-year civil war has killed about 250,000 people and caused nearly half of Syria's prewar population of 23 million to flee.

A top U.S. general told Congress last week that only a handful of the rebels are still fighting in Syria, though U.S. military officials said this week that dozens more have since joined them.

U.S. officials have told Reuters that a review is underway that could result in scaling back and reenvisioning the program.